Meeting documents

1

DECLARATION OF INTEREST

No declaration of interest was received by any Member or Officer in respect of any item discussed.

2

MINUTES

The minutes of the meeting held on 4 September, 2009 were confirmed, subject to the following :-

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that the paragraph under the name of Councillor Schofield which states ‘He also expressed reservations regarding the delegation to Officer proposed within the report.’ be removed from the minutes as the statement was incorrect; Councillor Schofield noted that he expressed that not all the details has been presented to the Committee to make a decision.

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that the name of Councillor Rhian Medi be included to the statement made by Councillor Fflur Hughes “.................... her disappointment that the Minister of Social Justice and Local Government has appointed a person who is a non-Welsh speaker.  She emphasised that this will have an effect on the Translation Section, with the requirement of translation of all documentation for Mr. Bowles and every meeting he attends.”

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that it be recorded that the Committee’s unanimously supported the resolution ‘ to defer consideration of the report until this Committee has been afforded sight of the completed deliberations by way of an agreed contract, job description and costing of the appointment before recommendations can be forwarded to the fully County Council.’

3

EXCLUSION OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC

RESOLVED to adopt the following :-

“Under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, to exclude the press and public from the meeting during the discussion on the following items as it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 12 of the said Act and in the attached Public Interest Test.”

4

APPOINTMENT OF NEW INTERIM MANAGING DIRECTOR AND DESIGNATION AS HEAD OF PAID SERVICE

Submitted - a report by the Head of Service (Corporate Services) in relation to the above.

It was reported that in light of issues raised, aspects with Mr. David Bowles who has confirmed the following :-

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in undertaking his work at the County Council, it is his intention, so far as it possible, to undertake the full duties and responsibilities of the post of Managing Director and Head of Paid Service (as described in the outline job description for the substantive post.  (Copy was attached to the report).

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there will be occasions where he will require Corporate Directors to act on his behalf and in this respect he acknowledges that the proposals outlined in paragraph 17 and recommendation 6 of the original report discussed at the last meeting would be of value, but at the present time, he does not anticipate any delegation of significance to the extent that would require any additional recompense to one or more the Corporate Directors.

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at the present time, Mr. Bowles acknowledged the significance of bilingual provision within the County Council’s administration and the wider community, but he does not at present anticipate any exceptional demands being placed on translation services or in relation to Welsh language support.  

The terms of Mr. Bowles engagement is via. Solace enterprises; details of the negotiations with the Head of Corporate Services was afforded to the Committee.  The agreed contract period will be 12 months commencing 13 August, 2009 with an initial fact finding period of 5-10 days mainly during August and September and the main contract work commencing on or about 12 October, 2009 - 3 / 4 days per week on a flexible basis.  The contract period will be subject to review prior to 13 August 2010 and may be subject to extension.  

The duties and responsibilities of Head of Paid Service will be undertaken concurrently with the Solace contract period.    Any proposal in relation to the mentoring, following the appointment of a future Managing Director would be subject of a separate contract.

Members sought clarification on a number of issues concerning the proposed contract, including the nature and frequency of exceptional travelling time, the expected length of the working week, where he would work from, the nature of accountability between Mr. Bowles, SOLACE, WAG and the authority, the adjustment required to JNC terms and conditions, the question of undertaking duties outside the main employment, and the necessary identity checks.  Officers responded to these questions.

The Officers confirmed that Mr. Bowles’ contract would be for an initial 12 months and that there was no contractual commitment at this stage to the proposed ‘mentoring’.  The documentation as outlined in the report would, if confirmed by the Committee and the County Council, form the final package.  In response to a question, it was also confirmed that Corporate Directors do not receive additional payment for ‘acting up’ for occasional days.

Councillor Rhian Medi referred to 2(c) in report which states ‘that he does not at present anticipate any exceptional demands being place on translation services or in relation to Welsh language support’; she noted that she wants to see a translation service from English to Welsh as she did not want to see the ethos and of the Council turning to English.  She considered that when somebody start speaking English then everybody else seems to be turning to the English language. Councillor Medi expressed strongly that she wanted linguistic rights and this would have financial implications to the authority.  Councillor Fflur M. Hughes noted that she raised this issue at the last meeting that there would be financial implications as Mr. Bowles is a non-Welsh speaker; she referred to the Management Team and the requirement for translation service at such a meeting.  The Chairman noted that he was in a quarterly meeting recently and translation service was at that meeting as one of the Officers was a non-Welsh speaker.    Councillor Hughes responded that she considered that translation services would be required on a more regular basis.   

Councillor Rhian Medi stated that she would be making an official request for translation service from English to Welsh and this will have financial and staffing implications to the authority.  The Corporate Director (Finance) responded that the Management Team do not ordinarily have a translation service but when a non-Welsh speaker attended the meeting translation services have been arranged, and that this was the case when Mr. Bowles recently attended.   He noted that he agreed that when Mr. Bowles attends meeting it will increase the requirement for translation service but it does depend who is at such meetings and the language needs of the individual.  It was impossible to estimate the extent to which Mr. Bowles position would change this.  However, if there was a demand for translation from English to Welsh, that would be a separate matter.

RESOLVED to recommend to the County Council :-

4.1

the acceptance of the package and terms and conditions concluded with SOLACE Enterprises as the basis for engagement of Mr. Bowles as Interim Managing Director.

4.2

the employment package concluded with Mr. Bowles in respect of his designation as Head of Paid Service concurrently with engagement as Interim Managing Director.

4.3

that the Head of Corporate Services acts as signatory and the Council’s contact officer for purposes of the SOLACE contract.

4.4

that any residual or consequential issues arising in relation to or as a result of the engagement of Mr. Bowles be referred for consideration to a meeting of the County Council.

4.5

that the advice on confidentiality contained in Paragraph 19 of the report to the Committee on 4 September, 2009 be commended to the County Council.

Councillor G.W. Roberts OBE wished it to be recorded that he abstained from voting in respect of this item.

5

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE APPOINTMENT OF THE NEW INTERIM MANAGING DIRECTOR AND DESIGNATION AS HEAD OF PAID SERVICE

Submitted - report by the Corporate Director (Finance) in relation to a requested at the last meeting for confirmation of the proposed working arrangements of the new Interim Managing Director and the resulting costs to enable it to agree a recommendation to the County Council.  He noted that the authority are committing itself to costs without complete control over; costs relating to the working arrangements of 3 or 4 days per week and when the work will come to an end.  The Minister of Social Justice and Local Government and the Recovery Board will decide when Mr. Bowles contract will come to an end.    He noted that the figures contained in the report are based on Mr. Bowles working 4 days a week which is the higher end of the options which have been outlined so far.  Councillor Keith Evans responded that it should be minuted that the authority has no control over the employment.    Councillor Schofield noted that this could be the situation but the Council knows exactly by the recommendation given where they are at the worst senario within the figure in the report.  

The Corporate Director (Finance) further reported that adequate funding is available up to 31 March, 2010 as there was no full time Managing Director i.e. the Corporate Director (Education and Leisure) has ‘acted up’ to the post of Acting Managing Director and paid an honorarium.  For the period 1 April, 2010 to 31 March, 2011 it depends for how long Mr. Bowles will be in the post; these figures were reported to the meeting.

Councillor Eric Jones noted that in a letter attached to the report by WAG noting that Mr. Bowles has indicated that he is willing to act as ‘mentor’ for any appointee of Managing Director; Councillor Jones questioned if the figures quoted in the report contain any ‘mentoring’ fees.  The Corporate Director (Finance) responded that if any ‘mentoring’ took place then the matter would have to be discussed at that time at a future meeting.  

Councillor G.W. Roberts OBE expressed his concern that if the authority appoints a Managing Director and asking Mr. Bowles to ‘mentor’ him/her; in normal situations this would not happen.  He considered that ‘mentoring’ should not be in the package at all as it is up to the authority to appoint a suitable candidate for the post of Managing Director.   Councillor Roberts also questioned if the information of how much Mr. Bowles was costing to the authority was to be made publicly.  The Chairman expressed strongly that confidentiality was paramount in this matter.  The Corporate Director (Finance) noted  there is public interest how much more this person is going to cost the authority; information will be released in the Financial Accounts of the Council for 2010.  He noted that the authority may wish to consider releasing how much more this person was to cost the authority but negotiation with Mr. Bowles and his representatives would have to be sought before release of such figures.  

Councillor Keith Evans proposed that the figure of the costs of the employment should be disclosed.  Councillor E. Schofield proposed that the Corporate Director (Finance) consult with the appropriate persons to discuss the right to disclose the cost of the employment before the County Council meeting to be held on 6 October, 2009.

RESOLVED to recommend to the County Council :-

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that it authorise the additional costs over and above existing budgets.

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to authorise the Corporate Director (Finance) to make enquiries with the appropriate bodies to ascertain the rights of the Council to disclose the cost of the employment of the New Interim Managing Director.

COUNCILLOR T.H. JONES

CHAIRMAN